Some of the special releases on the way for Record Store Day and RSD Drops 2022
Since 2008, Record Store Day has put a spotlight on the massive contributions that independent record stores make to the communities lucky enough to have them, via limited-edition special releases only available at mom-and-pop stores. The Record Store Day organization and individual shops kept the ball rolling in 2020 and 2021, with exclusive releases spread among multiple “RSD Drops” dates, and stores enacting protocols to maximize COVID safety.
On April 23, RSD will finally return as an in-person, one-day event — sort of. Thanks to the ongoing bottlenecks in the supply chain for vinyl records, some of the more than 300 special titles originally announced have been delayed. The organization planned ahead with an RSD Drops day on June 18 when those late-arriving titles will be offered.
Among some enticing reissues courtesy of Los Angeles label Org Music is Jeannie C. Riley’s landmark country LP Harper Valley P.T.A., available Saturday. Be sure to come back in June for Linda Martell’s 1970 album Color Me Country, the truly outstanding lone album from the first Black woman to chart a country single.
While the jazz fans in the audience will be able to get Albert Ayler’s Revelations on Saturday, they’ll have to wait until June for Freddie Hubbard’s Live at Studio 104. Edgar Froese’s Epsilon in Malaysian Pale, a long-out-of-print solo release from the late co-founder of electronic legends Tangerine Dream, is on track for RSD proper. But prog-heads can’t scoop up Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett’s The Tokyo Tapes until June.
The World of Ben Vaughn, the latest from the songwriter and producer who helped wrangle Nashville studio aces to make Ween’s 12 Golden Country Greats, will make its debut as an “RSD First” release that’ll go into wider distribution later. Same goes for So… How’s Your Girl?, the mind-expanding 1999 LP from Handsome Boy Modeling School, aka hip-hop producers Dan the Automator and Prince Paul, and Beam Me Up Scotty, the 2009 mixtape that helped put Nicki Minaj on the map.
Some special releases are coming in (relatively) big quantities. The two largest: 24,150 copies of Prince’s The Gold Experience and 20,600 of Pearl Jam’s 1998 live set called Live on Two Legs (both delayed till June). Not all the big releases feel superfluous. But you can argue that major label UMG ordering 15,000 picture discs of Kacey Musgraves’ Star-Crossed — excellent though the album is — makes it harder for tiny indie Delmore Recording Society to procure its 2,000 copies of Karen Dalton’s Shuckin’ Sugar.
The collection of early recordings by late, great folk singer Dalton is among a few RSD releases manufactured at Third Man Pressing in Detroit, which features some of the first new vinyl presses manufactured since the early ’80s. In a recent video titled “A Plea to the Three Global Major Labels From Jack White,” Third Man chief White calls for the majors to start building their own pressing plants to make more breathing room for everyone else.
Speaking of Third Man, the label’s Nashville storefront (623 Seventh Ave. S.) and the venerable Phonoluxe (2609 Nolensville Pike) are two local independent shops that will be open regular hours but won’t offer exclusive titles or other promotions as part of Record Store Day. Viv and Dickey’s (1262 Jackson Felts Road in Joelton) isn’t going to have special releases this time, but will be celebrating “A Store That Happens to Sell Records Sale Day” with a 15 percent discount on used inventory and some other promotions TBA. Alison’s Record Shop (994A Davidson Drive) typically offers discounts but doesn’t carry special releases; details weren’t confirmed at press time.
The Great Escape’s locations around the region include their 5400 Charlotte Ave. flagship and its sister location at 105 Gallatin Pike N. in Madison, as well as stores in Bowling Green, Ky., and Murfreesboro. All will be open at 8 a.m. for browsing special titles and offering each customer five free LPs from the 99-cent bin, in addition to some other goodies to be announced.
Shoppers in the special RSD line that will form around the back of Grimey’s New and Preloved Music (1060 E. Trinity Lane) will receive a menu of the RSD exclusives available from the store, on which they can mark up to 12 titles. Beginning at 10 a.m., staff will pull the titles customers choose and then complete the checkout. They’ll also have a master menu on a big ol’ dry-erase board where they’ll mark titles “86” as they run out. Grimey's will also be providing exclusives for a listening party billed as the "Official RSD After-Party" from 5 to 7 p.m. at Brooklyn Bowl.
In February, owners of The Groove (1103 Calvin Ave.) ended their bid to buy the property their store stands on when it was put up for sale, but they aren’t going anywhere just yet. They’ll be open with RSD exclusives for browsing (and a 20 percent discount on non-RSD box sets) beginning at 9 a.m., with their annual Acme Radio-assisted concert in the backyard from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The phenomenal Brassville headlines, while master rhymesmith Tim Gent, country champion Leah Blevins and spooktacular rockers The Phantoms of Saturn are among the others on the bill.
The Groove is one of just two area shops this year planning a free miniature music festival to mark RSD. The other is bar and record store Vinyl Tap (1038 Greenwood Ave.), whose staff is planning their biggest party yet with live music on stages indoors and out, drink specials, a curated market of vendors and makers and lots more. (That includes coffee for the early shoppers waiting when they open up at 9 a.m.) The lineup, announced after this issue went to press, includes country singer-songwriter Joshua Hedley, rockers Country Westerns and Total Wife, outstanding rapper Ron Obasi and lots more. While you jam out, you can browse exclusive titles and take advantage of a 15 percent discount on non-RSD stock.
Events like these tend to have lots of moving parts, and details can change quickly. The smart play is always to check stores’ social media for updates before you head over.
